McClain Moments: A Simpler Life

Practicing with my boots

2012-01-02T14:13:00.003-05:00

I'm practicing on making my photos larger within my posts. My Frye Boots = heart.

Embracing the Camera: Christmas style

2011-12-27T20:20:00.003-05:00

Reading one of the books Madeline received on Christmas morning.
Seriously, this was the best shot we got in 14 attempts. Whew, my face was hurting after that one.

Joyeux Noel

2011-12-26T21:56:00.003-05:00

We had a very Merry Christmas.

Kevin and I were able to attend Christmas Eve mass together while his parents sat at our house with the sleeping babes. We then completed a double-header by going to mass again on Christmas day with Madeline (while my parents watched Tessa)! We actually got to sit through both masses in their entirity. That's more times than we were able to during all of 2011 combined! Ca-ra-zy.

When they are ready

2011-08-10T10:17:00.003-04:00

It is true. Children will reach milestones when they are ready. You can lead them to drink but until they are good and ready, they will not drink. I have been realizing this more and more recently. It is so fundamental but oh so very true and presents itself as a lesson in patience for many parents. This applies to just about every milestone a child achieves but has resonated more clearly in my life with these two little ladies recently. For example, Kevin and I have been trying to get Madeline to ride her tricycle for about a year now. We tried and tried and tried again but Madeline just couldn't grasp the whole pedaling thing(one foot after the other). She just wasn't ready. We even bought her a bike for Christmas last year. We really weren't forcing it, she was just obsessed with bikes and we were trying to capitalize on this obsession. Any how, Kevin was cutting the grass yesterday evening and I sauntered around the yard with Tessa in my arms looking at all of our planting progress. Low and behold, Madeline had lugged her bike from the garage and was pedaling around the driveway like she had been doing it her whole life. In their own time, I say, when they are good and ready.

Butterfly Art

2011-08-04T10:09:00.005-04:00

Madeline loves art. Her teachers told me she is the first child to sit at the table when they say "it's art time". I love this because I enjoy simple crafting. It has been a great way for us to bond when Tessa takes her naps. We recently took on this butterfly art project that I found online at this blog. It took a couple of days because we had to wait for the paints to dry. However, it was quite simple and came together nicely. It was good for Madeline to see a process and the end result instead of the 5 minute, instant gratification projects she usually does at the school or library. She is so pround of it. She couldn't wait for Daddy to get home to show it off to him. I will not go into the details of how we did it because you can find that in the link. I will show you some pictures though.

We each painted a white canvas.

We then watercolored on cardstock.

We punched butterflies from the cardstock.

We bent the butterflies to give dimension and glued them on the canvas.

Our watercolor after we punched the butterflies.

Mine is the blue and Madeline did the yellow. The lines of butterflies on the left of Madelines' canvas are because "I want all da buddaflies to fly togeder".

I am going to do more butterflies because I think it will look even better with more but until I have then time.....this is it. I think they will hang on the playroom wall, which, by the way, is almost done!

Her Growth: Nine Months

2011-07-29T14:46:00.004-04:00

Teresa has been growing and reaching her milestones very nicely in the past couple of months. She is now 9 months and 1 week. She weighs 18.7 lbs. She is 5oth percentile for weight and 25th for height. She says mama and dada. Still only one tooth but she's been working on more. She is eating very well. She LOVES veggie sticks and magic pop rice cakes(absolutely wigs out when she sees the packages). She only nurses once in the morning now. She resolutely refuses formula(I have attempted many times but the girl ain't havin' it. I wouldn't either though....have you smelled that stuff!?) She drinks organic whole milk with DHA. I had to do the exact same thing with Madeline when she was Teresa's age because she just wouldn't drink anything else. She drinks a little water but there's no substance to it. I don't know if it's the girls' personalities that they just don't want to nurse anymore at 9 months, something with my body that makes my milk supply drop at that month, a mix of the two, or something completely different but it happens so I do what I have to do. Since she has been drinking about 15- 20 oz. of milk a day, her sleep has totally transformed. She sleeps from 7pm to 6:30 am without waking. She takes two solid naps on a pretty consistent basis. She is starting to crawl. She has taken two strides and I am confident she will be proficient in a couple of weeks. She is so stinking happy. Just look at that smile!

makin' do or makin' lemonade

2011-07-20T13:06:00.002-04:00

SOooooo, despite my post about our house being on the market, it is now "off the market". We were pretty much forced into the decision to stay in this house for a bit longer( say 2 to 5 years longer) by our neighbors. Let me explain. A house exactly like our house listed for about 50k less than ours and sold within the first week(there are some subtle differences and upgrades that make our house a bit nicer but not worth that much nicer). We have put aside our despise of these thoughtless neighbors(only kidding.....or am I?) and have decided to make lemonade, figuratively speaking. We are brightening the inside up with a bit of paint and selectively rearranging our furniture/replacing some of the black painted pieces. This will lighten the feel of the place, I do believe. I am making a dedicated playroom in the basement for the girls that I (and Madeline) am pretty psyched about. I will share this project soon. It's a use-what-you-have, ikea, craigslist and DIY kinda thing so it's taking some time to get together. Kevin is slowly but surely making our smallish backyard a bit of a haven for us to relax and the girls to play. There are several other functional changes we are making that will be interesting, possibly even a small-scale DIY kitchen renovation to make the space flow better beginning in the fall.

It's time for a "Teresa growth" post, she is 9 months now, ya know.....my, where does the time go?

yucker ducker

2011-07-19T14:57:00.003-04:00

Madeline and I have invented a new game. She thinks it is great. She lets out big belly laughs and screams "yucker ducker!". She even tries to create her own yucker duckers. The games goes like this....

Mama: "I want some......hum....mustard with my ice cream"

Maddy: "ewww, yucker ducker!"

Mama: "Gee, I would really like some pasta with my chocolate"

Maddy: "ewww, yucker ducker!"

Maddy: "It's my turn, Mama. I want some peanuts with my banana. Eww, yucker ducker!"

When we are outside, it goes like this...

Mama: "I want some dirt with my tuna"

Maddy: "Yucker Ducker! OK, how bout dis mama, I want some rocks with my milk. Ewww, dats yucker ducker!"

This girl keeps cracking me up. This sounds like a silly game, which it is. However, it is highly adaptable and a very good distracter for when there is an impending tantrum. It lightens the mood and even gets the brain moving.....ok, maybe only a little bit.

Embracing the camera: Father's Day

2011-06-19T11:15:00.003-04:00

You are the bestest Father to our two little girls. We love you so very much! Happy Father's Day, Kevin!

Embracing the camera

2011-06-11T13:40:00.004-04:00

I stumbled upon a blog a while back that I have been following for a bit now. There are so many blogs out there and definitely not enough time to keep up with all of them- especially if it's not even someone you know! However, this one caught my attention. Maybe this family reminds me of what mine must have been like when I was young or maybe it's kinda what I'd like for my married family to be like someday. Either way, there is a gaggle of kids, one adopted, and the mother writes pretty sarcastically. Each Monday she hosts "Embrace the Camera". She is encouraging the mamas to get in front of the camera instead of being the usual one taking the pictures. This is definitely how it goes with me. I'm always taking the pictures. Well, in an effort to be more visibly present in the kids lives when they look back at all of the photos we have taken when they are young, I am going to embrace the camera. Starting right now.

Her Growth: Seven Months

2011-06-03T12:28:00.005-04:00

Teresa is actually about 7 1/2 months now. She is doing very well. We did have a heck of a hard time for about 6 weeks between 5 1/2 months through 7 months. It all started when she began solid food. Her daily BMs turned into about every ten days with little nuggets in between ( hope you're not eating right now!). She was so fussy and would scream at night for hours. I tried suppositories, cutting down on the solids and nursing more, mylicon and almost everything. And then I found a bag of prunes in the back of my pantry. I was desperate for a big, loose reassuring poop from this little babe! I plopped the prunes in the blender with a bit of water. Teresa ate a huge bowl of them for lunch. They taste really sweet so she must have a sweet tooth like her mama (and Grandma!). I went to get her after her nap and was greeted by the whiff of sweet, breastmilk poop when I opened her door. I was strangely happy. I peeked in her diaper and success! It certainly was a reassuring poop. She has been sleeping fairly well ever since I began feeding her prunes every so often. She still wakes up at night sometimes but she doesn't scream inconsolably for hours like she was before. I even took her to nighttime pediatrics once because she was so crazy and I was positive she had intussusception of her bowel or something so rare that my pediatrician didn't pick up on it. Nope. She was what us nurses call FOS (full of s***).

Her first tooth has just popped up right on the lower middle part of her gums. She has the best smile and, now that her bowels are emptied regularly, she is so very happy most of the time! She has finally fallen into a fairly predictable morning and afternoon nap schedule which makes the mama very happy. She is rolling around a lot now. She can roll all the way across the room. She is sitting very briefly- about 2 seconds. HA. She will get there though. I predict she will be sitting by 8 months. She loves her big sister. They face each other in their carseats and Maddy plays peek-a-boo with Tessa. Tessa lets out big belly laughs from this. She is just so ecstatic that her big sis is engaging with her. We have so many pet names for her- Tess, Tessaroo, Tessaronirama (this is what Maddy calls her), the Tess meister, Reesa and so on. She turns her head to all of these names. It's so cute but hopefully not confusing to her.

House blues and the backyard

2011-06-01T15:13:00.009-04:00

There is a 'for sale' sign in our front yard. It's been there since January. There is an upside-down Joseph buried next to it. We have lowered the price. Twice. This is a fact. Everyone who has walked through says the house shows beautifully or asks if it has been staged (of course, if they were to open any drawers or cabinets all of the kid's crap would fall out on them- but it looks good when it shows so that's all that matters ha). "The market is bad and you are just trying to sell at the worst time" is a common explanation. It is true- but someone out there must want our house, right?
We bought this house a couple of months before we got married. We liked how it showed and we like the open-layout concept for entertaining. We saw the backyard and there was not much of it but decided it would do because who wants to cut grass anyways?? We were planning on many kids so the five bedroom aspect and the newly-built aspect appealed to us.

Then
we
had
children

I have changed so much in the past 3 years since mothering Madeline and now, Teresa. The layout just kills me. All of the entertaining we thought we would do just never really happens. The rooms are not defined so Madeline's playroom is really the entire house which quadruples the mess I have to clean.

The yard, if you can even call it that, is very small. For the past 4 years it has just been mossy grass and we really never spent time outside because it is not very pleasant. However, with the realization that the house might not sell, Kevin has been slowly fixing the back yard to make it a play area for the girls. He has done some landscaping, hired Scotts lawn service, made a big sandbox and bought a nice but small-scale swing set. It is coming along. We have really been getting into organic foods and shopping at farmers markets and would love to have enough room someday to plant our own vegetable garden. I would love to plant a fig and olive tree but, golly, that would never fit. We would also love for the children to grow up with a dog but this house is really a bad house to have a dog in and it's not fair to have such a small yard in which to frolic. These are two major things that we cannot change ( the size of the lot and the layout of the house). There are actually many others things about this house that make it somewhat difficult to live and raise children in but I will digress at this risk of sounding like a brat. Because, in actuality, our house is beautiful and many people in the world cannot live in a house like ours ( or yours probably!). It is a pretty house but the functionality is poor. If it does not sell by the fall then we will make do and try again in a few years.

So, Kevin made a sandbox like the one his parents have in their yard. He bought four 8' long pieces of pressure-treated lumber and cut 2' off of each one. He screwed the 4 pieces of 6' wood together in the shape of a square. He then used the remaining 2' pieces to make corner seats. He put landscape fabric down to block weeds from growing in the box and then filled it with a lot of sand. 25 bags, I think.

This is Kevin cutting the lumber.

This is the sandbox almost finished. He just cut each of the overhanging wood pieces to make a nice seat.

YAY! The finished sandbox. We bought a cheap waterproof tarp on Amazon so "no cats pee in my sandbox" as Madeline so correctly states.

Madeline kicking her feet in the cool sand.

Landscaping- planting a hosta.

Swinging on her new swing set.

Smelling the herbs on the deck. That's my soap/lotion girl. She hearts anything that smells good and is not afraid to stick her entire head in the planter.

Part III: Uncle Philip and Aunt Jessica's Big Day(a.k.a the wedding!)

2011-05-15T14:07:00.004-04:00

The reception was held at the Racquet Club of Memphis. This was the country club we were members of when we lived in Memphis. It brought back a lot of memories. There was a lot of dancing, eating, and general merriment. Note to self and anyone reading: a candy bar with individual baggies is the best idea ever!

Part II: Uncle Philip and Aunt Jessica's Big Day(a.k.a the wedding!)

2011-05-15T13:41:00.003-04:00

It was a beautiful afternoon wedding at St. Mary's Church in downtown Memphis. When Madeline saw the pictures from the wedding she said all on her own, "mama, Jessica is so perty". I agree! She looked so beautiful and Philip looked so handsome. It really was a great day for them and for everyone that loves them.

Philip s watching his bride approach him.

Part I: Uncle Philip and Aunt Jessica's Big Day(a.k.a the wedding!)

2011-05-15T13:20:00.003-04:00

On Friday, April 29th, Madeline and I got on a Memphis-bound plane for Philip and Jessica's April 30th wedding. Teresa and Kevin stayed home in Maryland because traveling with a child (or two!) is very difficult. The plane trip there was a bit trying(maybe because her genius mom booked the flight that departed at exactly her nap time :). You can't fault the kid, I guess. We arrived and met up with my brother, Matt. My parents picked us up and took us to the hotel. We relaxed in the room until it was time for the rehearsal dinner at Ruth's Chris. Philip and Jessica were beaming and it was so wonderful to see them so excited and in love! The dinner was delish but I must say that the MatthewDean-sized cheesecakes that each person devoured were the bomb. Dad gave his anticipated awesome/nerdy speech, the grizzlies were on in the background and it was a great meeting of the two families. Madeline then proceeded to have the most major public meltdown in the history of childhood- but not before she smeared Mimi's lippy all over her dome piece.

The menfolk. Denis had not arrived at the restaurant yet so he did not make the picture.

OMG, the cheesecake!

Philip is experiencing what it feels like to have the upper hand for the last time!

Lippy and cousin Kiki- that pretty much sums up Madeline's night.

A McClain Easter (2011)

2011-04-28T12:19:00.008-04:00

Gosh was Easter beautiful this year. So many of the days leading up to Sunday were rainy, dreary and depressing. When the sun rose on Easter morning we knew it was going to be glorious day. I really believe God plans it this way to strengthen our faith. It's also probably his way of rejoicing :)

We first woke up and spent the morning hours at our own home. I made Alton Brown's cinnamon rolls and Madeline dug into her Easter basket.

She was just so thrilled that the easter bunny came.

Don't they look delish? They were sooo easy and turned out perfectly. But I didn't stop there....

I then drowned them in cream cheese frosting. Because really, what's a cinnamon roll without a ridiculous amount of creamy sugar to moisten it?? Some may say I went too far with the amount of frosting. But I say to them, if some is good then more is better.

Then Madeline got a kick out of having Teresa sit on her lap.

We went to 10:30 mass at then headed over to Kevin's parent's house. We had a great lunch and the girls got to visit with all of the cousins. Aunt Katie hid eggs all over the yard and the kids had a blast hunting for them.

Waiting for the egg hunt to begin.

Madeline getting specific egg-finding instructions from Daddy.

Girl cousins showing each other some love.

Kevin and little Tessa enjoying the day in the sunroom.

Katie snaps a pic of little Lilly

I think this is my favorite picture of the day.

Laura attempted to take a family picture but Madeline was no having it and Tessa is sucking her thumb. It just wasn't a happening thing.

Grandmom and Maddy swinging

We headed down to my parent's house in the mid-afternoon and enjoyed a nice dinner and relative's company.

This George Jones Sharpe Dean. He will be moving to Georgia soon, sniff sniff.

Both of our girls LOVE Uncle Matt!

Madeline Dances

2011-04-23T17:14:00.002-04:00

While Kevin worked on a project in the garage (which I will share soon!), Madeline was rocking out! I think she's practicing her moves for Uncle Philip's wedding next weekend.

Her growth: Six months

2011-04-22T19:56:00.002-04:00

Teresa is six months young. She weighs 16 lbs. 13 oz. She is 60th percentile for weight and 25th for height. Hmmm. It was time for her six month shots and she was not happy about it. Not one bit. She also has two infected ears so she is taking antibiotics. Poor babe. She will make it though.....and so will we. She has been rolling over a bit more but still doesn't fancy it too much. She has been working on her stomach muscles to prepare for sitting independently. She's doing those little baby crunches and grunting. She can sit for a split second but quickly loses her balance. She started eating a couple of weeks ago but we are starting out very slowly. If she doesn't want what I'm offering her a certain day then I don't push it. So far, she has had:

Rice cereal- she likey

sweet potatoes- she likey

banana- she kinda likey but was then constipated for 3 days. I gave her a suppository and solved that problem rather quickly.

green beans- she hatey. I tried several times but she gagged and practically stopped breathing each time.

She is still nursing very well. Maybe even a little too well. She wakes several times in the middle of the night looking for food?? comfort?? to fall back asleep. When I try to sleep train her to fall back asleep on her own she just cries for hours. So, I keep giving in and nursing her. But this will end soon because I think I'll pull my hair out if it goes on much longer.....

Despite this, she's still adorable!

Intervention

2011-04-15T14:22:00.004-04:00

Hi. My name is Madeline and I'm a lippy/soap/anything in a tube or bottle addict.

Kevin and I have decided we cannot enable her addiction anymore. Madeline throws tantrums for bars of soap, tubes of lotion(desitin, toothpaste, body lotion) and chapstick (aka, lippy). She has been known to eat a tube of chapstick and toothpaste. She carries shopping bags and purses around the house full of these goodies. We are cutting her off cold turkey. We tried this a couple of months ago and she relapsed -but this is it. Mainly, because it's so annoying trying to reason with her as to why she cannot take the bar of soap from the bathroom after she's done washing her hands. Or why she should not suck on a tube of toothpaste. Or why she should not put 167 applications of chapstick on within a 5 minute period. Anyhow, this is the state of my life right now.

3 Confiscated bars of soap in my medicine cabinet.......and an old fruit roll-up?? Don't know where that came from

Sister First Bites

2011-04-05T08:24:00.003-04:00

Tessa had rice cereal for the first time yesterday. She did great. She was actually able to eat and swallow all of the food instead of tongue-thrusting it out onto her chin. Here is the short version of the video. I also dug up the video of Madeline eating for the first time but I don't think one drop ended up in her stomach (this one is actually of her eating peas because her "first bites" video was too long to download). It's so fun (at least for the mama) to watch the videos back to back. The girls are so similar and yet so very different.

Things I'm digging right now

2011-04-04T13:07:00.005-04:00

I, like many people, go through obsession phases. So let me help get you addicted to the things I'm hooked on right now.

1. Envirosax bags- They are super sturdy, cute, and fit nicely into my diaper bag. I use them at the grocery store and the five bags usually fit all of our groceries. Thank goodness my enormous supply of plastic and paper bags is dwindling.

2. Almond Butter- My obsession with peanut butter since college has reached a new level of sophistication! Oh almond butter, how do I love thee? Also, a big plus, I can pack Maddy an almond butter and jelly sandwich for school since it is a peanut-free school. She can't even tell the difference in taste and it's probably even better for her than peanut butter.

3. Land's End- I discovered that Sears sells Land's End Canvas clothing and have been stalking the website and store for a while now. They have some really cute clothes that are well made......and they always have sales going on.

Ok, I'm going to try feeding Tessa for the first time......wish her luck!

Her Growth: Five months

2011-04-01T13:37:00.003-04:00

So Teresa is five months (actually, almost 5 1/2) and I missed blogging about a few of her months. I'm a terrible mother. I even let her stroller go flying through the parking lot at church with all of the after-mass traffic. What can I say, I was saving Madeline from parking lot mayhem that she had run out into and left Tessa's stroller in the meantime. It was on an incline apparently and I was alerted to her runaway stroller when I heard a man screaming "baby! baby!" and sprinting after her stroller. I learned my lesson and my children are still alive.
Anyways, Teresa is doing fabulously. I don't know her weight because we haven't been to the doc in a while but I'd guess she's around 17 lbs. She has big beautiful blue eyes and the sweetest little smile. She has what Kevin and I call a hook arm. She hooks her arm around us for security when we are holding her. It's so darling. She is reaching her milestones much more slowly than Madeline did but I think it's just because of their polar personalities. Madeline was 0 to 60 since the day she was born and Tessa is a bit more mellow. Tessa has only rolled over once a couple of weeks ago. She hated it and has not done it since then. She is nowhere near sitting up but she does fine in the bumbo. She has become increasingly interested in food. She stares at our mouths when we chew and reaches for our drink glasses and forks. I think I will start rice cereal next week and see how she does.

oh, her sweet sweet smile

She puts EVERYTHING in her mouth. For example.....

her lion

her rattle

her zebra

herself

The Zoo

2011-04-01T13:05:00.004-04:00

I took Madeline to the zoo last month. Grandmom, Grandad, Aunt Katie and cousins were there too. My Mom offered to drive over at the last minute(awesome!) to watch Teresa so Maddy and I could have a little date. It was a great time. The weather was actually very mild for February and all of the kids behaved themselves.

Looking at the Rhinos

This was the outfit that we compromised on. Before we left, she came down to the kitchen when I was doing dishes with the following outfit on and stated "I'm ready to go to the zoo, Mama."

That's right, capri pants(in February) on backwards, a t-shirt on inside-out, backwards, and an arm out of the collar. And she was serious. I laughed.......and then took a picture.

Looking at the elephants with Sophia

Listening to the zookeeper intently.......until the zoo choo choo train passed and all the kids completely lost interest in the husk.

The times they are a changin'

2011-02-20T12:33:00.003-05:00

So I haven't blogged in 2 months (a lot of my posts start like this...), what's been going on? Well, not a whole lot. We wrapped up the holidays and now we are in the most depressing months of the year. I have had no motivation to blog because this time of year is so dull to me. The excitement of the holidays is over and now we must sit and wait for the nice weather of spring. Luckily, the nice weather has begun to come around a little early this year. Tesesa finally came out of a two week illness( another thing I loathe about the humdrum of winter) of strep throat, an ear infection, and RSV. I started working one day a week at the hospital. Teresa stays with Grandmom and fusses about the bottle. Madeline still goes to school twice a week and loves it. Madeline had her 2nd birthday on February 17th. She blew out her candles in the stack of banana pancakes that morning and proceeded to do the same to her peanut butter cup cake that evening. Anyhow, here are a few pics from the past week.

her growth: two months

2010-12-28T12:24:00.003-05:00

So one month has already passed. Teresa is two months old and is really growing well. She weighed 12 lb. 2 oz. at her two month appointment. That means she gained two pounds in one month. The sounds significant. However, I think I have gained at least two pounds this past month being the holidays and all. Let's talk about her growth and not mine though. She is in the 90th percentile for weight(golly jeepers) and the 50th for height.
Tessa is so very sweet. She gives us plenty of smiles and holds onto us tight when we hold her. She sleeps eight hours through the night several nights a week. She also sleeps until around 8 o'clock AM most days. She is very close to rolling over and laughing(I just love those first giggles!).

A close-up of her thigh rolls- just wanna squeeze em.